Gang turf spreads to Santa Rosa / As Sonoma County's population soars, towns once known for Wine Country living must fight a big-city problem

Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PST, Thursday, January 20, 2005

gangs_206_mac.jpg Santa Rose police arrest a man who was resisting arrrest as well as pocessing an illegal weapon in the parking lot of the Motel 6 downtown. Police believe he has affiliations with Santa Rosa gangs. Ride-A-Long with MAGNET gang task force, which is trying to put pressure on Sonoma County's 35 gangs and some 3,000 gang members, after a series of violent crimes including a homicide on New Years Eve.1/14/05 Santa Rosa, Ca Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle Mandatory Credit for Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/ - Magazine Out less

gangs_206_mac.jpg Santa Rose police arrest a man who was resisting arrrest as well as pocessing an illegal weapon in the parking lot of the Motel 6 downtown. Police believe he has affiliations with Santa Rosa ... more

Photo: Michael Macor

Photo: Michael Macor

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gangs_206_mac.jpg Santa Rose police arrest a man who was resisting arrrest as well as pocessing an illegal weapon in the parking lot of the Motel 6 downtown. Police believe he has affiliations with Santa Rosa gangs. Ride-A-Long with MAGNET gang task force, which is trying to put pressure on Sonoma County's 35 gangs and some 3,000 gang members, after a series of violent crimes including a homicide on New Years Eve.1/14/05 Santa Rosa, Ca Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle Mandatory Credit for Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/ - Magazine Out less

gangs_206_mac.jpg Santa Rose police arrest a man who was resisting arrrest as well as pocessing an illegal weapon in the parking lot of the Motel 6 downtown. Police believe he has affiliations with Santa Rosa ... more

Photo: Michael Macor

Gang turf spreads to Santa Rosa / As Sonoma County's population soars, towns once known for Wine Country living must fight a big-city problem

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A shrine of flowers and candles in the gritty Roseland neighborhood of Santa Rosa marks the site where 16-year-old Rogelio Bautista was shot to death in a gang rumble on New Year's Eve.

Once rare, such memorials are springing up more often as gang violence soars in Sonoma County, the once-idyllic haven of country estates, vineyards and orchards that now faces one of the most vexing problems of a booming metropolis.

Eight slayings thought to be gang-related were committed in Sonoma County in 2004, including that of an 18-year-old man who was clubbed to death with a baseball bat.

In 1991, police gang experts identified 300 gang members in Sonoma County. Now they say there are more than 2,800 local gang members and associates in 35 different gangs.

Santa Rosa, the county's largest city and the fifth-largest in the Bay Area, is struggling with a gang-related crime wave that authorities say rivals such violence in San Francisco and San Jose.

Nine people were injured in 32 drive-by shootings in Santa Rosa last year, including a man paralyzed by a bullet. In one incident, a baby girl and her teen mother were wounded by shotgun pellets as they strolled outside.

"There's a cognitive dissonance," said Santa Rosa Mayor Jane Bender. "The image of Santa Rosa is a small town, a safe place to live. You don't think of it as an urban area with urban problems. We're changing the dialogue."

That change could be seen last Friday night as unmarked sedans rolled up at a Santa Rosa apartment complex for a probation search of a gang member's residence. When police officers approached, the man bolted. Sheriff's deputies called for backup. A helicopter equipped with an infrared, heat-sensing device circled overhead. The suspect, Michael Kick, 22, was later apprehended on foot. He was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs and a probation violation.

The Friday night sweep by Sonoma County's gang task force and Santa Rosa police officers netted 11 arrests of parolees and gang members for probation violations and other charges. Officers seized a lead-filled billy club and a pistol with obliterated serial numbers.

"They're starting to arm themselves more than they would in the past. They're getting more bold," said Sgt. Lorenzo Duenas, supervisor of the countywide task force known as MAGNET, an acronym for Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Team.

The sweep was the task force's first major response to a rash of gang violence that happened over the holidays. It also came just days after a funeral and memorial service for Bautista, a high school junior who was on probation for a gang-related crime. He died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Two brothers, David and Dominic Nevarez, ages 25 and 21, were arrested in connection with the melee between two rival gangs on New Year's Eve. But they have not been charged with Bautista's slaying. Dominic Nevarez also was on probation for gang-related offenses.

Gang task force officers hoped their presence on the streets might deter reprisals for the holiday violence that killed Bautista and in separate incidents seriously wounded a 15-year-old boy and killed a 23-year-old Santa Rosa man who was kidnapped and shot to death on Christmas Day.

Yet the violence goes on. Two drive-by shootings rocked Santa Rosa last weekend, one outside a Sears store. In a separate incident believed to be gang- related, a 27-year-old Santa Rosa man died from multiple gunshots in his home early Sunday morning. Three suspects are being sought.

"Over the last five years, we've seen a slow, steady rise of gang activity," said Lt. Matt McCaffrey of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, who oversees the gang task force. "Gang enforcement is like weeding the sidewalk. You root them out, and they come back. You try not to let them overwhelm you."

Even the sleepy town of Petaluma has experienced a startling uptick in gang violence. Its police force has identified at least 50 gang members. In November, a Petaluma man was beaten unconscious with a baseball bat by two admitted gang members.

As gang violence escalates in Sonoma County, local officials say, state budget cutbacks have left the county's law enforcement agencies scraping for adequate resources to keep enough patrol cars on the streets.

Residents in some of Santa Rosa's low-income neighborhoods often are terrorized by the sound of gunfire. Many gang-related crimes go unreported and unpunished because of victims' fear of revenge and the lack of cooperative witnesses, officers said.

Some high-density apartment buildings in the Apple Valley neighborhood are dominated by two major Hispanic gangs, the Norteños and the Sureños, both of which have chapters throughout the state. Some whites, Native Americans and immigrants from Eritrea are also affiliated with these gangs. Asian gangs that specialize in home-invasion robberies also are a problem in the county.

Formed a decade ago, the MAGNET task force is made up of men and women from the county's various law enforcement agencies, including officers from Rohnert Park and the California Highway Patrol. The Santa Rosa department's crime-suppression unit also works closely with the gang task force.

The enforcement team responds to, and attempts to solve, gang crimes. It also works closely with detectives and patrol officers from various agencies to gather and share intelligence about gang activities in those jurisdictions and to maintain detailed records on gang members' affiliations and crimes. With the aid of probation and parole officers, the task force periodically visits gang members' homes and neighborhoods.

The gang task force scored some success last year against Asian gangs, which were implicated in a Rohnert Park slaying in 2004 and blamed for numerous drive-by shootings in the county. Several of their members have been sent to prison.

But despite the team's best efforts, Sonoma County's gang-related crime has gotten worse in the last decade as the county's population has soared to more than 466,000.

Since the early 1990s, Sonoma County's street gangs have morphed into small-scale criminal enterprises. But Sonoma County gangs appear much less involved in the drug trade than those in other metropolitan areas, police investigators said. Some gang members support themselves by stealing cars. Others collect unemployment, go to school or hold down steady jobs.

Although loosely organized, Sonoma County gangs are steeped in pride and vengeance. Most gang violence involves rival gangs. Weapons of choice include long screwdrivers for stabbing. Violent crimes against civilians are rare.

On any given day, hundreds of gang members sit in the Sonoma County Jail -- segregated into different wings by gang affiliation to minimize flareups. Others roam the streets, ready to seek revenge.

"It's the Hatfields and the McCoys," said McCaffrey. "They've been doing it for so long, they don't know why they're doing it anymore."